A farmer has been found guilty of allowing a river to be polluted with detergent after almost 250,000 fish died.

Farmer Anthony Edwards, 63, from Maerdy, appeared at Llandudno Magistrates Court and denied polluting the River Ceirw and of allowing matter poisonous or injurious to fish to enter the river in April 2002.

The court heard that the Environment Agency officer who investigated the pollution found five barrels containing detergent in a shed on the nearby Maerdy Farm.

One barrel had rusted and the contents had leaked. Tests on samples from the barrel found the contents were very similar to the pollutant found in the dead fish.

At the time the shed was rented out to the defendant Anthony Edwards by the owner of Maerdy Farm, Arthur Evans, in exchange for straw.

In court on Friday, Mr Edwards denied that he was responsible for putting the barrels in the shed and said that he hardly noticed them.

The Environment Agency argued that his knowledge or lack of knowledge of the barrels was irrelevant, and that he was responsible for the damage because he had been using the shed.